Christie: All NJ will have power by Sunday

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie shakes hands with Harvey Cedars, NJ, Police Chief Tom Preiser Wednesday at the High Point Fire Company in Harvey Cedars, NJ, on Long Beach Island. He was there for a news conference ahead of a Nor'easter that is heading for the Jersey Shore. HARVEY CEDARS, NJ 11/7/12 GOVSANDY1107E ASBURY PARK PRESS PHOTO BY THOMAS P. COSTELLO

A round-up of storm-related updates from Morris County and around New Jersey.

Recovery from Sandy continues, shelter at Mennen being phased out

As the recovery from Hurricane Sandy continues, the Morris County Office of Emergency Management, in cooperation with the Red Cross and the Morris County Department of Human Services, is in the process of closing the Menning Arena in Hanover Township as a primary shelter.

The county's goal is to close Mennen tomorrow at noon.

Any resident currently at Mennen will be moved to the Public Safety Training Academy's gymnasium, which can house 80 people.

The animal shelter that was set up by the County Animal Response Team will also be moved from Mennen to the Academy tomorrow.

Social workers through the Morris County Office of Temporary Assistance will be working with all shelter guests for appropriate placement and further shelter needs.

Additional information can be obtained by calling the Morris County Office of Emergency Management at 973-829-8600.

The county hopes to have the ice rink at Mennen return to its normal operations for the weekend.

Around Morris County:

In Morris Plains, the warming and recharging center at the Community Center will discontinue services at the end of today.

Mendham Road (Old Route 46) is now open through Morristown.

In East Hanover, the Township Council Meeting scheduled for Monday, Nov. 19 at 7 p.m. has been canceled and rescheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 14 at 7 p.m. in the Municipal Building Public Meeting Room.

It is Mayor Pannullo's request that because of the unsafe conditions still existing in East Hanover, there will be no observance of Halloween at this time.

In Mendham, the K-8 district and the High School will have a delayed opening today. The High School will have a full-day school session tomorrow.

The Montville Township Committee will hold a special public meeting to discuss the Hurricane Sandy response this Saturday, Nov. 10 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Municipal Building located at 195 Changebridge Road.

In Netcong, an American Red Cross Mobile Feeding Unit is arriving today between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. A hot food truck will be stationed at Netcong Heights located on Route 46.

In Randolph the following roads are still closed: Mountainside Drive at Everdale Road, Everdale Road from Shongun to Mountainside, Old Brookside Road in Mendham, Pleasant Hill Road in Chester, South Road and Washington Valley in Mendham Township.

In Washington Township, Halloween will still be held on Saturday, Nov. 10, but the hours have changed to 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.

In Rockaway Township, pre-packaged food and bottled water is available to residents without power at the Road Garage located at 540 Green Pond Road.

In Morris Township, Meals Ready to Eat (MRE) has been delivered to the foyer in Towns Hall to any resident in need of a hot lunch. A hot food truck provided by the American Red Cross will be stationed at the Morris Township Municipal Building which is located at 50 Woodland Avenue. Those who are unable to access hot food due to the effects of recent weather are welcome. Free individually wrapped meals will be handed out from the truck. Food will be distributed on a first come, first serve basis.

In Denville, "door-to-door trick or treating" has been canceled this year. In place of "door-to-door trick or treating," there will be a Trunk or Treat on Saturday, Nov. 10 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Morris Catholic High School.

In Long Hill, Deputy Mayor Guy Piserchia and other town officials will hold a public briefing for residents in the Town Hall Court Room at 3 p.m.

In Mount Olive, the Senior Center is open today at 12 p.m. Sandwiches have been provided by Firehouse subs.

In Washington Township, a free pasta dinner is available to residents on Friday from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Long Valley First Aid Squad located at 70 East Mill Road. Hot dinners are available at St. Luke's located at 265 West Mill Road from 4:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. and bagels and coffee are available from 7:30 a.m. to 10 a.m.

Mayor declared state of emergency over in Parsippany

Mayor James R. Barberio has declared that the State of Emergency is officially over in the township.

The mayor issued a statement through the police department saying that all traffic signals in the township are now functioning and that garbage, recycling and yard waste pickup is back on its regular schedule.

The statement also noted that schools are back in session and that the Parsippany Water Department is off of generator and has had full electric power restored to all pump houses. State of New Jersey water restrictions are however, still in effect.

There are still significant power outages in the township, according to Jersey Central Power and Light which put the number of customers still out at 3,232 but the utility said it is continuing to work on restoration efforts.

Christie: Only 'villain' in disaster is Sandy

Gov. Chris Christie says Wednesday's nor'easter caused only a slight setback to Superstorm Sandy recovery efforts and he expects all New Jerseyans to have power back by early Sunday at the latest.

The governor Thursday praised the work of the utilities and utility crews, who have been working 16-hour days.

He said Jersey Central Power & Light's performance in this storm has been "significantly better" than it was during Tropical Storm Irene.

He also cautioned against trying to make villains out of anyone in the disaster.

He says "the villain in this case is Hurricane Sandy."

Snowstorm causes over 150K new outages in NJ

A nor'easter disrupted recovery efforts from Superstorm Sandy by dumping more than a foot of heavy wet snow in parts of New Jersey and knocking out power to more than 150,000 customers in the state.

But it appeared to have done little new damage to the already badly scarred Jersey Shore.

Some of the latest outages being reported after the Wednesday night storm hit people who had lost power last week, had it restored, then lost it again.

"You get kind of tired of this," said John Monticello of Point Pleasant Beach, who drove to the oceanfront to see whether the 12-foot-high emergency piles of sand that public works crews had plowed to the water's edge had held during the storm. (They did.)

"We lost power last week, just got it back for a day or two, and now we lost it again," he said. "Every day it's the same now: Turn on the gas burner for heat. Instant coffee. Use the iPad to find out what's going on in the rest of the world."

The National Weather Service canceled a coastal flood warning after high tide came in Thursday below flood levels.

Monmouth and Ocean counties, which took a beating from Sandy, appeared to have received the most snow: 13 inches were measured in Freehold and a foot in Manchester Township. Accumulations were much lower at the coast, but much of it still got 4 inches. The snow covered hulking debris piles that residents had dragged to the curb after Sandy.

The state's two largest utilities blamed more than 150,000 new outages on the nor'easter, bumping the total in New Jersey up to about 390,000. At its peak, last week's superstorm had left more than 2.7 million utility customers without power.

Jersey Central Power & Light, whose customer base is in Ocean and Monmouth counties, where some of the heaviest snow fell and where Sandy also caused the most damage, said the nor'easter caused about 120,000 outages, on top of 149,000 left over from the superstorm.

Plows and salt-spreaders cleared the state's major highways but local streets in Sandy-battered areas, still lined with debris, were a mess.

It was a relatively smooth commute on the rails and roads, NJ Transit said. However, there were delays for buses in the northwest suburbs.

Thursday was the first day for buses to shuttle commuters from MetLife Stadium to ferries in Weehawken for a free ride into Manhattan.

Mandatory evacuations were in place for some coastal and low-lying communities in central Jersey considered vulnerable. But evacuees were expected to be allowed to return to at least some neighborhoods Thursday.

Residents in 48 NJ towns asked to reduce water use

Millions of gallons of untreated and partially treated wastewater are flowing into New Jersey's waterways as a result of Superstorm Sandy.

The Environmental Protection Department says about 50 million gallons a day of untreated wastewater is flowing into the Raritan River from the Middlesex County Utility Authority's system.

The DEP says about 250 million gallons of partially treated wastewater is flowing into Newark Bay and New York Harbor from the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission's system. That figure was about 500 million gallons before the system was partially fixed over the weekend.

The DEP and Gov. Chris Christie on Thursday urged 48 towns served by the Passaic Valley authority to restrict water use.